Don’t Waste Time With Unqualified & Uninterested Tenants
By JD Esajian on June 7, 2017
In any business time is money. In the real estate rental world there is no bigger bleeder of time than dealing with prospective tenants. Without a firm plan and systems in place you can let one tenant drive you around in circles. It is critical that you do most of your tenant screening before they even step foot in the property. What you will find is that a majority of prospective tenants end up either not qualifying or not wanting the property after you show it. Between driving to and from the property this can take an hour or so out of your day. Doing this a few times a week can leave you wondering where your time when by weeks end. What’s worse is that you could spend time with an unqualified tenant that causes you to miss out on one who was truly interested and ready to go. Here are five things you can do to help prescreen your tenants to get to those who really want your property.
- Found Out How They Got Your Information. Most rental property listings are posted on several different sites. It is not uncommon for a listing to be on a handful of websites, possibly the MLS as well as social media. The first question you should have when someone contacts you about a property is “where did you see the property.” In most cases the listing for the property is the same but may be some subtle differences. Knowing where they saw your information can also give you some clue as to their motivation. If they saw the listing on a real estate posting site you know they are actively looking. On the flip side if they were just driving by the property and saw your number on a bandit sign they may just want a monthly rental number. Always ask for as much contact information from the caller as you can. If they are truly serious they will provide you their cell phone as well as an email address. You should only move forward if they are willing to give you this information.
- Send Property Information. Prior to putting the house on the market it is a good idea to get some information in order. First, you should develop a fact sheet you can distribute to any prospective tenants. This should include the price, square footage, room count and any other property amenities. You should also include some information on the area and a projection of the monthly expenses. This gives them all the information in one stop so they won’t have to call you with any questions. Another good idea is taking a quick video of the property. This gives them a real look at everything the rental offers. Start with the outside view and work your way around to every room in the house. Don’t be afraid to show the property with warts and all. If they don’t like what they see in the video they won’t like it when they see it in person. At this point your goal is to gauge as much real interest as possible.
- Online Application. If the tenant expresses interest the next step is to send over an online application. Your application can be as short or as long as you are comfortable with. In your application, you need to find out information regarding employment, income, pets, smoking and anything else important to you. Instead of asking if they have pets ask what kind of pets they have. This eliminates the prospect of the tenant simply answering no to all the questions without really reading the application. Your application should have a spot for the tenant to list a few references. Even if they only have one or two it is important that you follow up to give you a better idea of who you are renting to.
- Talk Security/Specifics. If there is mutual interest this far along in the process you can start talking specifics. The first item you need to discuss are the move in/out dates. Even though this was probably brought up you should reiterate it one more time before moving forward. The next important item is the security deposit. Almost every tenant knows they must come up at least one month, possibly two of the security. If your tenant balks at this you know they may not be ready to move forward. The security should not be something they try to negotiate or haggle with. If they do this now you can expect this to be a pattern moving forward.
- Ask About Neighborhood. The final step before an actual showing is to see if your tenant is truly familiar with the neighborhood. Even if the property is in a good area you need to ask your tenant if they know the street. There are times when a tenant will love what they see with the property but when they drive up they have a problem with the area. If your tenant says they know exactly where the property is you can be assured the area is not a problem. If they don’t know you should ask if they can drive by the property before scheduling a showing.
Once these five steps are completed you should be ready for a showing. Any showings you have at this point have a much better chance at becoming actual tenants than the random calls you receive. These five steps won’t take more than 24 hours but have a huge impact on your tenant conversion rate.